1. Introduction & Purpose
Playground Preferences & Support Needs of Ambulatory Children with Physical Disability
The Department of Physical Therapy and Health Sciences
Adair Gardner, SPT, Shannon Bowar, SPT, & Dr. Brenda Pratt, PT DSc PCS
Results
Introduction & Purpose
Play is used by children to develop physical, cognitive, and social/emotional skills1. Children with physical disabilities play less frequently than their peers that are typically developing2. Limited research has explored the playground behaviors of children with physical disabilities and what barriers playgrounds pose for them. The purpose of this study was to determine the play activity preferences and support needs of ambulatory children with physical disabilities during playground play.
Methods
Participants:
Five children with ambulatory spastic cerebral palsy (age, 7 -7 y: 4 boys)
Level II Gross Motor Classification System
Level I/II Manual Abilities Classification System - Participant 3 & 5-Level I
Participant 1/2 hemiparesis; Participant 3/5 diplegia; Participant 4 quadriparesis
Research Design: Observational Design
Setting: Eight playgrounds that were either ADA or non-ADA compliant
Data Collection: During 6 data collection sessions, playground preferences and support needs measurements were obtained during 30-minute sessions on two different community playgrounds.
Measurements: Play activity preferences and support needs were measured using behavior mapping, an observation method of collecting data on targeted behaviors and locations simultaneously.
Data Analysis: Descriptive statistics
Table 1: Level of Support – Play Activities
Participant 1
Participant 2
Participant 3
Participant 4
Participant 5
Indep.*
Assist.**
Swings 12 14 3 13 11 2 7 5
Balance 46 34 62 83 27
Slides 26 23 1 21 35
173
Climbing 8
110 9 6 28
105
Upper Extremity (UE) 10
Crawling 4 51
Learning 18 16
109 17
Total Independent*  97
233
154
255
390
Total Assistance** 67 88 29
Discussion
Participants engaged with all categories of playground activities. Balancing, climbing, and sliding activities were the top three choices for at least 3 of the 5 children. All participants required support to engage in physical activities that were personally challenging. Limitations to the study were environmental factors, participant motivation and other intrinsic characteristics, and participant relationship with others on the playground such as siblings. These ambulatory children with ambulatory cerebral palsy have wide preferences in play activities. Physical therapists are in the unique position to support the playground behaviors of children with physical disability. Playground skills should be a part of physical therapy services because of the importance of regular physical activity and play for health.
1, 2 References available upon request.